Preliminary registering device



ug- 15, 1967 B. B. PASQUINELLI ETAL 3,336,027

REGISTERING DEVICE PRELIMINAREY 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Sept. 13, 1965 ug- 15, 1967 B. B. PASQUINELLI ETAL' PRELIMINARY REG STERLING DEVICE 2 Shees-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 13. 1965 INVENTORS BRUNO B. PASQUINELLI MAHENDRA VIR SINGH Mama/aad MKM ATTORNEYS United States Patent O 3,336,027 PRELIMINARY REGISTERING DEVICE Bruno B. Pasquinelli, Evergreen Park, and Mahendra V. Singh, Chicago, Ill., assignors to Miehle-Goss Dexter, Incorporated, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Delaware Filed Sept. 13, 1965, Ser. No. 486,634 Claims. (Cl. 271-60) ABSTRACT 0F THE DISCLOSURE A sheet slow-down and preliminary registering device in which a cover plate is mounted for bodily movement with the slow-down and registering member. The cover plate is resiliently biased toward a sheet control position relative to the registering member and is shifted to a retracted position by a fixed abutment which limits the movement of the cover plate With the registering member as the latter approaches a sheet engaging position.

This invention relates to sheet feeding mechanisms. More specifically it pertains to an improved sheet control device which functions to retard, prelirninarily register and thereafter present the leading edges of a continuous stream of sheets to the iinal front register guides on the register table of a printing press or the like sheet processing machine.

In sheet feeding mechanisms it is conventional practice to employ sheet control means in the form of reciprocating introducing nozzles and coacting slow-down hooks to retard 'and'align sheets prior to their engaging the iinal front guides on the register table of a printing press. In some of the known mechanisms the introducing nozzles are separated from the slow-down hooks and each is operated in precise timed relation by its own independent'actuating mechanism. In other devices the introducing nozzles and slow-down hooks are combined as a unit but they still require a separate cam and control means for each unit to impart the necessary relative motions to the respective members.

Although the respective mechanisms have functioned efficiently in the past, they obviously are expensive to manufacture and maintain, due to the multiplicity of parts involved. Moreover, because of the overall weight .of the mass which must be reciprocated and controlled .they are not satisfactory for use on modern high speed presses.

It is the primary object of this invention therefore to provide an improved sheet slow-down and aligning mecha nism which is relatively simple in construction and economical to manufacture.

A further object is to provide a mechanism of relatively light Weight, having a minimum number of parts and which mechanism is capable of efficient operation at high speeds.

A A still further object is to provide a sheet slow-down mechanism in which the sheet aligning element is formed as an integral part of the introducing nozzle assembly whereby more accurate preliminary alignment and control of the sheets can be attained.

. Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view in cross section, illustrating the improved sheet slow-down and aligning means as incorporated in the register table of a printing press;

FIGURE 2 is a plan View of FIGURE 1; and

FIGURES 3 to 6, are partial sectional views illustrating the various positions assumed by the respective elements during a cycle of operation.

With reference to FIGURES 1 and 2 of the drawings the invention is illustrated as embodied in the feed mechanism of a printing press which comprises a register table 10 having endless conveyor tapes 11 and rollers 12 mounted thereon for advancing a continuous stream of sheets 13 in regular order toward a series of front guides 14 which function to accurately register each suceeding sheet before it is fed into the printing press in a manner as is well known in the art.

Prior to their reaching the front guides 14 however, each succeeding sheet is arranged to be retarded and preliminarily registered by control means indciated in its entirety by the numeral 16 which is located below the front end of the register table and which is adapted to have access to the sheets through slots such as 17 formed in the front edge of the table.

The control mechanism essentially consists of a carrier member 18 having spaced side walls 19 and 20 which extend rearwardly to form an arm 22 that is pivotally mounted on a cross shaft 23 for limited rocking motion about the axis thereof. Connected to the depending boss 24 of the end wall 26 of the carrier member is a link 27, one end of which is pivotally connected to said end wall as at 28 and the other end thereof is pivotally connected as at 29 to a lever 31 fixed to a rock shaft 32 which extends transversely below the register table and is rotatably mounted in the feeder frames, not shown.

At one end the rock shaft 32 is provided with a lever 33 having a cam roller 34 at the free end thereof which is adapted 'to traverse a cam 36 on the cam shaft 37 which is driven so as to rotate the cam through one complete revolution for each cycle of operation. A spring 38 maintains the roller 34 in contact with said cam. Upon rotation of the cam 36 it will be evident that the carrier member 18 will be oscillated about the axis of the shaft 23 for reasons which will be explained more fully hereinafter.

The carrier member is provided with two, spaced parallel rods 39 and 40 respectively, which extend longitudinally thereof between the side walls 19 and 20 with the ends thereof secured in the end wall 26 and the cross Wall 42, respectively. These rods provide support for a housing 43 which is slidably mounted on said rods for reciprocating motion longitudinally of said carrier member. Reciprocating motion is imparted to the housing by means of a lever 44 the free end 46 of which extends through a slot 47 in the arm 22 of the carrier member and is connected to the depending arm 48 on said housing by the link 49.

The lever 44 is secured to a rock shaft 51 which is journalled for rotation in the feeder frames and this shaft has a lever 52 secured thereto which carries at its free end a cam roller 53 adapted to ride on a cam 54 on the cam shaft 37. A spring 56 maintains the roller 53 in contact with the cam 54. Accordingly when the cam 54 is rotated, the lever 44 will impart reciprocating motion of the housing 43 which will move back and forth between a sheet engaging position as illustrated in FIGURE 1 and a sheet release position substantially as illustrated in FIGURE 5 wherein it is advanced beyond the front guides 14.

The housing 43 is provided with a guide surface 57 for controlling the oncoming sheets and this surface projects above the plane of the register table 10 to engage, align, and retard each succeeding sheet as it 'advances toward the front guides 14. Said housing also carries a suction or introducing nozzle 58 which is adapted to engage the undersnrface of the leading edge of each oncoming sheet, such as the sheet 59, and hold said edge in the plane of the register table until a cover plate 61 moves into position to retain said edge against the guide surface 57.

The introducing nozzle 58v is provided with ports 62 which communicate with a vacuum chamber 63 in the housing 43 and the chamber in turn is connected with a vacuum pump, not shown, through the port 64 and a flexible tube 66.

The cover plate 61 is substantially L-shaped in side elevation and is secured to one end of a rod 67 which is supported on the housing 43 for axial sliding motion relative thereto. The housing is formed with a reduced diameter throat portion 68 in which the rod 67 is slidably mounted and it has a larger diameter bore 69 to the rear thereof to accommodate a sleeve 71 which is slidably mounted therein. The sleeve 71 has a reduced diameter portion 72 at one end thereof adapted to tit over the rod 67 and is held on the end of said rod by means of the bolt 73. The remainder of said sleeve has an enlarged inside diameter to accommodate a compression spring 74 which is confined between the shoulder formed by the throat portion 68 of the housing and a shoulder formed by the reduced diameter portion 72 of the sleeve, and which spring constantly urges the rod 67 in a direction to the left as viewed in FIGURE l.

The cross wall 42 of the carrier member 18 is formed with a recess 76 aligned with the rod 67 and it is provided with a stop 77 which is adapted to engage the bolt 73. Accordingly, as the housing 43 moves to its sheet receiving position, the bolt 73 will engage the stop 77 during the final motion of said housing and thereby cause the shaft 67 and cover plate 61 to be retracted relative to the housing against the tension of the spring 74. As the housing reverses its direction of motion, the spring 74 will maintain the bolt 73 in contact with the stop 77 until the cover plate 61 extends-over the guide surface 57 and until the resilient snubber 7S on the shaft 67 is engaged by the shoulder 79 on the housing. From this point on, the cover plate will move in unison with the housing through the remainder of its reciprocating motion and until it approaches its sheet receiving position once again. To prevent any turning motion of the cover plate 61 about the axis of the rod 67 during the entire cycle of operation, spaced, parallel guide surfaces 81 and 82 are formed on the housing 43 which extend forwardly of the guide sur face 57 and coact with the respective side edges 83 and 84 of the cover plate.

In operation, and with reference to FIGURE l, a sheet 86 is illustrated as having been advanced by conventional infeed mechanism to a sheet carrying member and, while the trailing portion thereof still remains on the register table, the front guides 14 have returned to register the next suceeding sheet 59 and the housing 43 is in its sheet receiving position. At this point the suction to the nozzle 58 is still off and the sheet 59 is advancing at normal speed toward the guide surface 57 under the driving iniiuence of the tapes 11. As the cam 54 rotates the roller 53 will travel over a declining portion thereof whereupon the housing 43 will initially be quickly accelerated to the speed of the advancing sheet. Immediately thereafter suction is applied to the nozzle S to pull the sheet down into the plane of the register table as the housing 43 continues to move at the same speed as the sheet. During this initial movement the spring 74 maintains the bolt 73 in contact with the stop 77 until the respective elements assume the position shown in FIGURE 3, wherein the cover plate 61 extends over the leading edge of the sheet.

Thereafter, the profile of the cam 54 is such that the motion of the housing 43 is decelerated and suction to the nozzle 58 is terminated so that the sheet may advance relative to the housing, under the influence of the tap/es 11, until the leading edge of the sheet engages the guide surface 57 to be aligned and gradually retarded thereby. By this time the snubber 78 will engage the shoulder 79 on the housing and the cover plate 61 will move in unison with the housing while retaining the sheet against the guide surface 57. l

The housing 43 continues to move at a deceleratmg speed and shortly before reaching the front guides 14 .the cam follower 34 will engage the node portion 36a of the cam 36 to thereby rock the shaft 32. This produces a relative lowering of the carrier member 18 which in turn lowers the guide 57 and cover plate 61, as illustrated in FIGURE 4, to ensure that the leading edge of the sheet 59 will enter below the plate 87 on the guide 14.

By this time the forward motion of the housing has been decelerated to a minimum so that the edge of the sheet will abut gently against the front guides 14 and be retained thereby. After the sheet has been stopped by the front guides 14, the housing continues to move forward until the guide surface 57 and cover plate 61 are clear of the sheet in the sheet release position as indicated in FIGURE 5, whereupon the roller 34 engages the node portion 36b of cam 36, thereby lowering the carrier member 18 and the housing 43 below the plane of the register table 10 to the position as illustrated in FIGURE 6 yfor the return stroke.

The assembly is adapted to remain retracted during the entire return stroke and until the housing 43 has reached a point immediately below its sheet engaging position. As the housing moves at reduced speed through the final portion of the return stroke the bolt 73 on rod 67 engages the stop 77 on the carrier 18 and thus the cover plate 61 is retracted automatically against the tension of the spring 74 so as to be in position for the next cycle of operation.

Upon completion of the return stroke the cam 36 is effective to raise the assembly to the sheet receiving position as shown in FIGURE l wherein the cover plate 61 and guide surface 57 project above the plane of the feed table 10. Such motion is in a path substantially perpendicular to the plane of the feed table and as the assembly rises, the cover plate 61 serves to lift the tail of the outgoing sheet to provide clearance for the guide surface 57 to intercept the leading edge of the next succeeding sheet as it advances thereunder.

From the foregoing description it will be evident that the mechanism comprises a relatively simple combination of coacting elements which is light weight and eiiicient and which eliminates the need for cumbersome and expensive control means for actuating the cover plates relative to the introducing nozzles and slow down guides.

It will be understood that although only one slow-down assembly has been disclosed, at least two and as many as eight or ten such assemblies, depending on the size of the press, would normally be employed, Each assembly would be identical and they would all be operated in unison by the common cams 36 and 54.

What is claimed is:

1. Sheet slow-down means for presenting sheets seriatim to the front guides on the register table of a sheet processing machine comprising a housing, means for reciprocating said housing between a sheet engaging position and a sheet release position, a guide surface on said housing for engaging and preliminarily registering the leading edge of each sheet as it advances toward the front guides, and a cover plate for retaining the leading edge of the sheet in a plane which intercepts the guide surface, a support for said cover plate, said support being mounted on said housing for movement of the cover plate relative to said housing between a sheet retaining position and a retracted position with respect to said guide surface, resilient means normally biasing the cover plate to its sheet retaining position, and a relatively fixed stop having operation to intercept said support and thereby limit the movement of said cover plate with said housing whereby said cover plate is shifted to said retracted position against the tension of said resilient means during final movement of said housing to its sheet engaging position.

2. Sheet slow-down means for presenting sheets seriatim to the front guides on the register table of a sheet processing machine comprising, a housing, means for reciprocating said housing between a sheet engaging position and a sheet release position, a guide surface on said housing for engaging and preliminarily registering the leading edge of each sheet as it advances toward the front guides, `suction means on said housing for engaging and initially holding the edge of a sheet in a plane which intercepts the guide surface, a cover plate adapted to retain the leading edge of the sheet in said plane upon its release by the suction means, a support for said cover plate, said support being mounted on the housing for movement of the cover plate relative to said housing between a sheet retaining position and a retracted position with respect to said guide surface, resilient means normally biasing the cover plate to its sheet retaining position, and a relatively xed stop having operation to intercept said support and thereby limit the movement of said cover plate with said housing whereby said cover plate is shifted to said retracted position against the tension of said resilient means during final movement of the housing to its sheet engaging position.

3. Sheet slow-down means for presenting sheets seriatim to the front guides on the register table of a sheet processing machine comprising, a housing, means for reciprocating said housing between a sheet engaging position and a sheet release position, a guide surface on said housing for engaging and preliminarily registering the leading edge of each sheet as it advances toward the front guides, a cover plate adapted to retain the leading edge of the sheet in a plane which intercepts said guide surface, mounting means for said cover plate including a shaft slidably mounted in said housing, resilient means encircling said shaft and adapted to exert a force between said housing and one end of said shaft to thereby normally maintain the cover plate in an operative position with respect to the guide surface, and a relatively fixed stop adapted to intercept said one end of said shaft upon final movement of the housing to its sheet engaging position to thereby shift the cover plate to a retracted position with respect to said guide surface against the tension of said resilient means.

4. Sheet slowdown means for presenting sheets seriatim to the front guides on the register table of a sheet processing machine comprising, a housing, means for reciprocating said housing in a plane substantially parallel to the register table between -a sheet engaging position and a sheet release position, a guide surface on said housing for engaging, retarding and preliminarily registering each sheet as it advances toward the front guides, suction means on said housing for engaging and initially holding the leading edge of a sheet in a plane which intercepts said guide surface, a cover plate adapted to retain the leading edge of the sheet in said plane upon its release by the suction means, mounting means for said cover plate including a shaft slidably mounted in said housing, said shaft being movable between a rst position wherein said cover plate overlaps said guide surface and a second position wherein the cover plate is retracted from said guide surface, resilient spring means carried by said housing and adapted to exert a force between the housing and one end of said shaft to thereby normally maintain the cover plate in said rst position, and a relatively fixed stop member adapted to intercept the said one end of said shaft upon final movement of the housing to its sheet engaging position to thereby shift the cover plate from said rst position to said second position.

5. In sheet registering mechanism the combination comprising a support for the sheets to be registered, front guide means for registering the sheets, means on said support for advancing the sheets seriatim toward the front guide means, a member having a guide surface thereon for intercepting, preliminarily aligning and thereafter presenting the leading edge of each sheet to the front guide means, means for reciprocating said member between a sheet engaging position and a sheet release position, suction means on said member adapted to engage each sheet and temporarily hold the lead edge thereof in the plane of said support, a cover plate for retaining the edge of the sheet in said plane upon release of the sheet by the suction means so that the sheet can advance into contact with and be preliminarily registered by said guide surface as it advances toward the front guides, a support for said cover plate, said support being mounted on said member for movement of the cover plate longitudinally relative to said member between a sheet retaining position and a retracted position with respect to said guide surface, resilient means normally biasing said cover plate to its sheet retaining position, and a relatively fixed stop having operation to intercept said support and thereby limit the movement of said cover plate with said member whereby said cover plate is shifted to the retracted position against the tension of said resilient means upon tinal movement of said member to its sheet engaging position.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,011,776 8/1935 Reinartz 271-53 2,087,997 7/ 1937 Reinartz 271-53 2,599,602 6/ 1952 Backhouse 271-60 M. HENSON WOOD, IR., Primary Examiner. R. A. SCHACHER, Assistant Examiner. 

1. SHEET SLOW-DOWN MEANS FOR PRESENTING SHEETS SERIATIM TO THE FRONT GUIDES ON THE REGISTER TABLE OF A SHEET PROCESSING MACHINE COMPRISING A HOUSING, MEANS FOR RECIPROCATING SAID HOUSING BETWEEN A SHEET ENGAGING POSITION AND A SHEET RELEASE POSITION, A GUIDE SURFACE ON SAID HOUSING FOR ENGAGING AND PRELIMINARY REGISTERING THE LEADING EDGE OF EACH SHEET AS IT ADVANCES THE LEADING EDGE GUIDES, AND A COVER PLATE FOR RETAINING THE LEADING EDGE OF THE SHEET IN A PLANE WHICH INTERCEPTS THE GUIDE SURFACE, A SUPPORT FOR SAID COVER PLATE, SAID SUPPORT BEING MOUNTED ON SAID HOUSING FOR MOVEMENT OF THE COVER PLATE RELATIVE TO SAID HOUSING BETWEEN A SHEET RETAINING POSITION AND A RETRACTED POSITION WITH RESPECT TO SAID GUIDE SURFACE, RESILIENT MEANS NORMALLY BIASING THE COVER PLATE TO ITS SHEET RETAINING POSITION, AND A RELATIVELY FIXED STOP HAVING OPERATION TO INTERCEPT SAID SUPPORT AND THEREBY LIMIT THE MOVEMENT OF SAID COVER PLATE WITH SAID HOUSING WHEREBY SAID COVER PLATE IS SHIFTED TO SAID RETRACTED POSITION AGAINST THE TENSION OF SAID RESILIENT MEANS DURING FINAL MOVEMENT OF SAID HOUSING TO ITS SHEET ENGAGING POSITION. 